In Europe the impact of the Depression was at
its greatest in Germany. By 1932 German factories were only producing about 60
per cent of the output of 1928. By 1932 one out of every three of the working
population was unemployed. The slump hurt farmers as well as factory workers.
The income of German farmers fell by about half between 1928 and 1932. The
result was massive discontent.

Democratic government was already in trouble
before the Depression started. On both the left and the right, some German
politicians had been unhappy for years with democracy. In addition. many senior
army officers and civil servants disliked the rule of parliament. The
Depression added a new sense of crisis to German politics. As early as 1930
emergency powers were given to the president that limited the power of the
parliament or Reichstag.

Hitler's luck

The Depression was a tremendous piece of good
luck for Adolf Hitler. Before the Depression his Nazi Party was very small.
There were elections in Germany in 1928 and the Nazis won only 12 seats in
parliament. Hitler's breakthrough came in September 1930 when the party won 107
seats and became the second largest party in Germany.

At the same time, there was an increase in support
for the communist party. As people lost their faith in democracy they turned to
the two parties that wished to destroy parliament. Although deadly enemies,
both Nazis and communists agreed that democracy was weak and worthless.

As unemployment rose in Germany there was an
increase in street violence between gangs of Nazis and communists. The Nazis
made further progress in the elections of July 1932 when they won 230 seats and
became the largest party in the Reichstag. Hitler's appeal was based on the
problems of the Depression: most of his supporters were impressed by the way
his propaganda called for 'Work and Bread'.

Hitler takes over

Hitler was now in a powerful position. There
were further elections in November 1932. The Nazis lost a little ground but
remained the single largest party. Although he did not win an outright
majority, Hitler was able to do deals with other parties and he became the
Chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933.

After elections in March 1933 Hitler took
complete control. Democracy came to an end on 23 March 1933 when the Reichstag
passed the so-called 'Enabling Law'. This gave Hitler the power to introduce
future laws without the agreement of the Reichstag. Hitler was now the dictator
of Germany.

German rearmament

Hitler's rise to power did not lead to
immediate war between Germany and other states. However in October 1933 Hitler
showed his contempt for the Versailles settlement by withdrawing Germany from
the League of Nations. At the same time he withdrew Germany from the
Disarmament Conference that had been meeting at Geneva since 1932. In the
following two years he concentrated on strengthening his position in Germany
and rearming Germany.

In February 1933, days after he came to power,
Hitler instructed the German general, Von Fritsch, to end German disarmament
and to create an army of the greatest possible strength . This was a breach of
the Treaty of Versailles.

Germany began a remarkable increase in its
level of weaponry that was to gather momentum during the mid-1930s. By July
1933 tanks were being produced. By 1934 Germany was making aircraft and
warships.

The airforce did particularly well from the
first days of rearmament. The production of military aircraft rose from 36
planes in 1932 to 1 938 planes in 1934 and 5 112 planes in 1936. In 1935 Hitler
introduced conscription and began to increase massively the number of German
soldiers. The limits on German power in the Treaty of Versailles had been
completely overturned.